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Full-Text Articles in Physics
Prospects For Observing Ultracompact Binaries With Space-Based Gravitational Wave Interferometers And Optical Telescopes., T. B. Littenberg, Shane L. Larson, G. Nelemans Department Of Astrophysics, Radboud University Nijmegen, N. J. Cornish
Prospects For Observing Ultracompact Binaries With Space-Based Gravitational Wave Interferometers And Optical Telescopes., T. B. Littenberg, Shane L. Larson, G. Nelemans Department Of Astrophysics, Radboud University Nijmegen, N. J. Cornish
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Space-based gravitational wave interferometers are sensitive to the galactic population of ultra-compact binaries. An important subset of the ultra-compact binary popula- tion are those stars that can be individually resolved by both gravitational wave in- terferometers and electromagnetic telescopes. The aim of this paper is to quantify the multi-messenger potential of space-based interferometers with arm-lengths between 1 and 5 Gm. The Fisher Information Matrix is used to estimate the number of binaries from a model of the Milky Way which are localized on the sky by the gravitational wave detector to within 1 and 10 deg2 and bright enough to …
Constraining The Black Hole Mass Spectrum With Gravitational Wave Observations – I. The Error Kernel, Danny C. Jacobs, Joseph E. Plowman, Ronald W. Hellings, Sachiko Tsuruta, Shane L. Larson
Constraining The Black Hole Mass Spectrum With Gravitational Wave Observations – I. The Error Kernel, Danny C. Jacobs, Joseph E. Plowman, Ronald W. Hellings, Sachiko Tsuruta, Shane L. Larson
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Many scenarios have been proposed for the origin of the supermassive black holes (SMBHs) that are found in the centres of most galaxies. Many of these formation scenarios predict a high-redshift population of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), with masses M• in the range 102≲M•≲ 105 M⊙. A powerful way to observe these IMBHs is via gravitational waves the black holes emit as they merge. The statistics of the observed black hole population should, in principle, allow us to discriminate between competing astrophysical scenarios for the origin and formation of SMBHs. However, …
Gravitational Wave Bursts From The Galactic Massive Black Hole, Clovis Hopman, Marc Freitag, Shane L. Larson
Gravitational Wave Bursts From The Galactic Massive Black Hole, Clovis Hopman, Marc Freitag, Shane L. Larson
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The Galactic massive black hole (MBH), with a mass of M•= 3.6 × 106 M⊙, is the closest known MBH, at a distance of only 8 kpc. The proximity of this MBH makes it possible to observe gravitational waves (GWs) from stars with periapse in the observational frequency window of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). This is possible even if the orbit of the star is very eccentric, so that the orbital frequency is many orders of magnitude below the LISA frequency window, as suggested by Rubbo, Holley-Bockelmann & Finn (2006). …
Gravitational Waves: New Observatories For New Astronomy, Louis J. Rubbo, Shane L. Larson, Michelle B. Larson, Kristina D. Zaleski
Gravitational Waves: New Observatories For New Astronomy, Louis J. Rubbo, Shane L. Larson, Michelle B. Larson, Kristina D. Zaleski
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This article reviews the current status of gravitational wave astronomy and explains why astronomers are excited about the new generation of gravitational wave detectors. As part of the review we compare and contrast gravitational radiation to the more familiar electromagnetic radiation. We discuss the current indirect experimental evidence for gravitational waves and how current and future gravitational wave detectors will operate as our newest telescopes are pointed at the skies.
Lisa Time-Delay Interferometry Zero-Signal Solution: Geometrical Properties, Massimo Tinto, Shane L. Larson
Lisa Time-Delay Interferometry Zero-Signal Solution: Geometrical Properties, Massimo Tinto, Shane L. Larson
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Time-delay interferometry (TDI) is the data processing technique needed for generating interferometric combinations of data measured by the multiple Doppler readouts available onboard the three Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) spacecraft. Within the space of all possible interferometric combinations TDI can generate, we have derived a specific combination that has zero response to the gravitational wave signal, and called it the zero-signal solution (ZSS). This is a two-parameter family of linear combinations of the generators of the TDI space, and its response to a gravitational wave becomes null when these two parameters coincide with the values of the angles of …
Lisa Data Analysis: Doppler Demodulation, Neil J. Cornish, Shane L. Larson
Lisa Data Analysis: Doppler Demodulation, Neil J. Cornish, Shane L. Larson
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The orbital motion of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) produces amplitude, phaseand frequency modulation of a gravitational wave signal. The modulations have the effect of spreading a monochromatic gravitational wave signal across a range of frequencies. The modulations encode useful information about the source location and orientation, but they also have the deleteriousaffect of spreading a signal across a wide bandwidth, thereby reducing the strength of the signalrelative to the instrument noise. We describe a simple method for removing the dominant, Doppler,component of the signal modulation. The demodulation reassembles the power from a monochromatic source into a narrow spike, …
Lisa, Binary Stars, And The Mass Of The Graviton, Curt Cutler, William A. Hiscock, Shane L. Larson
Lisa, Binary Stars, And The Mass Of The Graviton, Curt Cutler, William A. Hiscock, Shane L. Larson
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We extend and improve earlier estimates of the ability of the proposed LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) gravitational wave detector to place upper bounds on the graviton mass mg by comparing the arrival times of gravitational and electromagnetic signals from binary star systems. We show that the best possible limit on mg obtainable this way is ∼50 times better than the current limit set by solar system measurements. Among currently known, well-understood binaries, 4U1820-30 is the best for this purpose; LISA observations of 4U1820-30 should yield a limit ≈3-4 times better than the present solar system bound. AM …
Sensitivity Curves For Spaceborne Gravitational Wave Interferometers, Shane L. Larson, William A. Hiscock, Ronald W. Hellings
Sensitivity Curves For Spaceborne Gravitational Wave Interferometers, Shane L. Larson, William A. Hiscock, Ronald W. Hellings
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To determine whether particular sources of gravitational radiation will be detectable by a specific gravitational wave detector, it is necessary to know the sensitivity limits of the instrument. These instrumental sensitivities are often depicted (after averaging over source position and polarization) by graphing the minimal values of the gravitational wave amplitude detectable by the instrument versus the frequency of the gravitational wave. This paper describes in detail how to compute such a sensitivity curve given a set of specifications for a spaceborne laser interferometer gravitational wave observatory. Minor errors in the prior literature are corrected, and the first (mostly) analytic …
Using Binary Star Observations To Bound The Mass Of The Graviton, Shane L. Larson, William A. Hiscock
Using Binary Star Observations To Bound The Mass Of The Graviton, Shane L. Larson, William A. Hiscock
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Interacting white dwarf binary star systems, including helium cataclysmic variable (HeCV) systems, are expected to be strong sources of gravitational radiation, and should be detectable by proposed space-based laser interferometer gravitational wave observatories such as LISA. Several HeCV star systems are presently known and can be studied optically, which will allow electromagnetic and gravitational wave observations to be correlated. Comparisons of the phases of a gravitational wave signal and the orbital light curve from an interacting binary white dwarf star system can be used to bound the mass of the graviton. Observations of typical HeCV systems by LISA could potentially …